Space. The final frontier. The strange, black mass around the Earth that’s calling out to us, daring to come at it with all the technologies we could think of. As the space exploration in real world is stalling behind the schedule, videogame spacemen are orbiting on the countless devices, including mobile phones. The most popular among the â€œrealisticâ€ space exploration simulators is, undeniably, Kerbal Space Program. It’s a whole another topic, worthy of a hundred of articles, but it’s quite obvious where SimpleRockets took the inspiration from. Although it’s a lot more simple, it’s fitting perfectly into the mobile screen.

â€œSimpleRocketsâ€ is quite a misleading title for this game. In actuality, it’s among the most complex mobile simulators I’ve ever seen, and it’s great. SimpleRockets is a sandbox experience through and through. While it has several mission-type levels and a tutorial, it’s the sandbox mode where it really starts to shine. The game consists of several stages. The first is building a rocket. Every rocket should have a command module somewhere within it, and it should be kept safe at all times â€“ but apart from that, players are encouraged to think of the most ridiculous constructions they can think of, and test them out. The parts can only be attached to the certain points, but it still provides an endless amount of possible constructions. Ship also has to have several stages that it goes through, while in flight, and they are also programmed in the first phase. Obviously, it’s all very complex, and I won’t describe it all â€“ but it’s sufficient to say that anyone willing to understand a tiny bit about this game’s rules, should definitely go through every single tutorial. Anyway.

The second stage is actually launching the damn thing. The player needs to adjust the engine power and ship direction, as well as activate the next stage of the ship. There’s also a fuel reserve that should be kept in check. Obviously, if the ship is to get anywhere at all, player should correct the course from the special tactical map that shows the ship’s trajectory.

That’s only the basics of what SimpleRockets has to offer. There’s a whole solar system to explore, and getting to another planet is times more challenging than simply making it to the moon. Although the game is certainly not fit for everyone, and the exploration for the sake of exploration could make it quite boring. But on the other hand, it’s a great sandbox for space geeks, and fans of virtual construction sets. I’d like it even more if it, say, had an update with more ship details coming sooner or later, but it’s a great game regardless.